Exodus 21
1 'And these [are] the judgments which thou dost set before them:
“Here are some [other] instructions to give to [the Israeli people]:
2 'When thou buyest a Hebrew servant — six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought;
When/If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve you for [only] six years. In the seventh year you must free him [from being your slave], and he is not required to pay you anything [for setting him free].
3 if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he [is] owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him;
If he was not married before he became your slave, and if he marries [someone while he is your slave], his wife is not to be set free [with him]. But if he was married before he became your slave, you must free both him and his wife.
4 if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters — the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself.
If a slave’s master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters [while her husband is a slave], only the man is to be freed. His wife and children will continue to be slaves of their master.
5 'And if the servant really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons — I do not go out free;
But when it is time for the slave to be set free, if the slave says, ‘I love my master and my wife and my children, and I do not want to be set free,’
6 then hath his lord brought him nigh unto God, and hath brought him nigh unto the door, or unto the side-post, and his lord hath bored his ear with an awl, and he hath served him — to the age.
then his master must take him to [the place where they worship] God (OR, to [the owner’s] house). There he must make the slave stand against the door or the doorpost. Then the master will use an (awl/pointed metal rod) to make a hole in the slave’s ear. Then [he will fasten a tag to the slave’s ear to indicate that] (he will own that slave for the rest of his life/he will own the slave as long as the slave lives).
7 'And when a man selleth his daughter for a handmaid, she doth not go out according to the going out of the men-servants;
If a man sells his daughter to become a slave, she should not be set free [after six years], as the male slaves are.
8 if evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he hath not betrothed her, then he hath let her be ransomed; to a strange people he hath not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her.
If the man who bought her wanted her to be his wife, but if [later] he is not pleased with her, he must sell her back to her father. He must not sell her to a foreigner, because that would be breaking the contract/agreement [he made with the girl’s father].
9 'And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her.
If the man who buys her wants her to be a wife for his son, he must then treat her as though she were his own daughter.
10 'If another [woman] he take for him, her food, her covering, and her habitation, he doth not withdraw;
If the master takes another slave girl to be another wife for himself, he must continue to give the first slave wife the same amount of food and clothing that he gave to her before, and he must continue to have sex [EUP] with her as before.
11 and if these three he do not to her, then she hath gone out for nought, without money.
If he does not do all these three things for her, he must free her [from being a slave], and she is not required to pay anything [for being set free].
12 'He who smiteth a man so that he hath died, is certainly put to death;
You must execute anyone who strikes another person with the result that the person who is struck dies.
13 as to him who hath not laid wait, and God hath brought to his hand, I have even set for thee a place whither he doth flee.
But if the one who struck the other did not intend to kill that person, the one who struck him can escape to a place that I will choose for you, [and he will be safe there].
14 'And when a man doth presume against his neighbour to slay him with subtilty, from Mine altar thou dost take him to die.
But if someone gets angry with another person and kills him, even if the murderer runs to the altar, [a place that God designated as a place to be safe], you must execute him.
15 'And he who smiteth his father or his mother is certainly put to death.
Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be executed.
16 'And he who stealeth a man, and hath sold him, and he hath been found in his hand, is certainly put to death.
Anyone who kidnaps another person, either in order to sell that person or to keep him as a slave, must be executed.
17 'And he who is reviling his father or his mother is certainly put to death.
Anyone who reviles/curses his father or his mother must be executed.
18 'And when men contend, and a man hath smitten his neighbour with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but hath fallen on the bed;
Suppose two people fight, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist. And suppose the person he strikes does not die but is injured and has to stay in bed [for a while],
19 if he rise, and hath gone up and down without on his staff, then hath the smiter been acquitted; only his cessation he giveth, and he is thoroughly healed.
and later he is able to walk outside using a cane. Then the person who struck him does not have to be punished. However, he must pay the injured person the money he could not earn [while he was recovering], and he must also pay the injured person’s medical expenses until that person is well.
20 'And when a man smiteth his man-servant or his handmaid, with a rod, and he hath died under his hand — he is certainly avenged;
If someone strikes his male or female slave with a stick, if the slave dies (immediately/as a result) [IDM], the one who struck him must be punished.
21 only if he remain a day, or two days, he is not avenged, for he [is] his money.
But if the slave lives for a day or two after he is struck [and then dies], you must not punish the one who struck him. Not having that slave to be able to work for him any longer is enough punishment.
22 'And when men strive, and have smitten a pregnant woman, and her children have come out, and there is no mischief, he is certainly fined, as the husband of the woman doth lay upon him, and he hath given through the judges;
Suppose two people are fighting and they hurt a pregnant woman with the result that (she has a miscarriage/her baby is born prematurely and dies). If the woman is not harmed in any other way, the one who injured her must pay a fine. He must pay whatever the woman’s husband demands, after a judge approves of the fine.
23 and if there is mischief, then thou hast given life for life,
But if the woman is injured in some additional way, the one who injured her must be caused to suffer in exactly the same way [that he caused her to suffer]. If she dies, he must be executed.
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
If her eye is injured or destroyed, or if he knocks out one of her teeth, or her hand or foot is injured, or if she is burned or bruised, the one who injured her must be injured in the same way.
25 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26 'And when a man smiteth the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his handmaid, and hath destroyed it, as a freeman he doth send him away for his eye;
If the owner of a slave strikes the eye of his male or female slave and ruins it, he must free that slave because of [what he did to] the slave’s eye.
27 and if a tooth of his man-servant or a tooth of his handmaid he knock out, as a freeman he doth send him away for his tooth.
If someone knocks out one of his slave’s teeth, he must free the slave because of [what he did to] the slave’s tooth.
28 'And when an ox doth gore man or woman, and they have died, the ox is certainly stoned, and his flesh is not eaten, and the owner of the ox [is] acquitted;
If a bull gores a man or woman with the result that the person dies, you [must kill the bull by] throwing stones at it, but you must not punish the owner of the bull.
29 and if the ox is [one] accustomed to gore heretofore, and it hath been testified to its owner, and he doth not watch it, and it hath put to death a man or woman, the ox is stoned, and its owner also is put to death.
But suppose the bull had attacked people several times before, and its owner had been warned, but he did not keep the bull inside a fence. Then you [must kill the bull by] throwing stones at it, but you must also execute its owner.
30 'If atonement is laid upon him, then he hath given the ransom of his life, according to all that is laid upon him;
However, if the owner of the bull is allowed to pay a fine (to save his own life/in order not to be executed), he must pay the full amount that the judges say that he must pay.
31 whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment it is done to him.
If someone’s bull attacks and gores another person’s son or daughter, you must treat the bull’s owner according to that same rule.
32 'If the ox gore a man-servant or a handmaid, thirty silver shekels he doth give to their lord, and the ox is stoned.
If a bull attacks and gores a male or female slave, its owner must pay to the slave’s owner 30 pieces of silver. Then you must [kill the bull by] throwing stones at it.
33 'And when a man doth open a pit, or when a man doth dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or ass hath fallen thither, —
Suppose someone has a pit/cistern and does not keep it covered, and someone’s bull or donkey falls into it [and dies].
34 the owner of the pit doth repay, money he doth give back to its owner, and the dead is his.
Then the owner of the pit/cistern must pay for the animal that died. He must give the money to the animal’s owner, but then he can take away the animal that died and [do whatever he wants to with it].
35 'And when a man's ox doth smite the ox of his neighbour, and it hath died, then they have sold the living ox, and halved its money, and also the dead one they do halve;
If someone’s bull hurts another person’s bull with the result that it dies, the owners of both bulls must sell the bull that is living, and they must divide [between them] the money [that they receive] for it. They must also divide [between them the meat of] the animal that died.
36 or, it hath been known that the ox is [one] accustomed to gore heretofore, and its owner doth not watch it, he certainly repayeth ox for ox, and the dead is his.
However, if people know that the bull often attacked other animals previously, and its owner did not keep it inside a fence, then the owner of that bull must give the owner of the bull that died one of his own bulls, but he can take away the animal that died [and do with it whatever he wants to do].”
